Redundancies in conversational English

Has anyone ever used the phrase “You talk too much”. The phrase could be funny when aptly applied in conversational English. For example, it is common in India to use the term “You talk too much”, when you talk a lot and people don’t understand what you say,

Similarly a lot of us Asians speak long sentences while conversing in English. Some of us may believe it is important to speak long sentences to be perceived important, while others just do it without knowing it is redundant. Let us look what redundancy in English means.

Redundancy in English means using more words than needed or necessary to complete a sentence or a conversation. This includes repeating words unnecessarily when already spoken, unnecessary phrases and words etc. It is also important to note that when it comes to Americans and major Corporations across the world where you seek a job, people do not have the time to listen to everything we have to say.

So it is almost vital and important, that we keep our sentences short, crisp, meaningful to convey exactly what we want to say. As simple and easy as it sounds, this is one of the hardest aspects of any language.

Let us look at some examples of redundancies in English and how we could eliminate them.

1)Redundant Sentence: Mr.Chin knows a lot in terms of conditions of the situation
Accurate expression: Mr.Chin knows a lot about the situation

2)Redundant Sentence: It was a problem that was very difficult and delicate in nature
Accurate expression: The problem was difficult and delicate

3)Redundant Sentence: Jonny had always behaved in a responsible manner
Accurate expression: Jonny had always behaved responsibly

4)Redundant Sentence: I will revert back (very common mistake made)
Accurate expression: I will revert (Revert means responding/replying back)

5)Redundant Sentence: The group advanced forward rapidly
Accurate expression: The group advanced rapidly (Advanced means moving forward)

Note: The examples above are based on TOEFL guide published by Barron’s. Name’s have been changed.

There are plenty of examples we could use to reflect redundancies. I hope this posting helps some of us correct our English usage and learn something for today.

Join our Face Book Group:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104428852118&ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=104428852118&ref=ts

Follow us on Twitter: dragonenglish

Authored by
Bharath Balakrishnan – Founder: www.DragonEnglish.com

www.DragonEnglish.com is an online English tutoring and learning portal connecting hundreds of English teachers from around the world to students of Asia. Our motto is to empower and build global professionals.

For students: www.DragonEnglish.com strives to support students learn accurate conversational English and empower students become global professionals. If you are looking to learn from real online English tutors at rates as low as $5 per hour using high end web conferencing platform, please do feel free to register with www.DragonEnglish.com. It is FREE to register. You only need to pay for a course you wish to take.

For Teachers: Also – www.DragonEnglish.com is always on the lookout for qualified and experienced teachers to join our panel to teach English online. Do you fit the bill? Register for FREE now as a tutor with www.DragonEnglish.com and try our system. You could be taking your first step to making a handsome income working as a home tutor.